Brain Drain
by Rocky T
Summary: What it's like to be on the Voyager writing staff


_Disclaimer # 1: Star Trek Voyager and all of its characters belong to Paramount, and to Brannon Braga who somehow got hold of the keys to the kingdom. Darned if I know why.___

_Disclaimer # 2: This story is a work of fiction. None of the events depicted is real. Of course, some are a little more believable than others…___

_Story Notes: An answer to the "Die, Seven, Die!" challenge, inspired by Liz and Laura W.'s muses._

**BRAIN DRAIN**

To: General Writing Staff   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: New Addition   
Date: November 1, 2000 

I am pleased and happy to announce the addition of Rocky T. to our writing staff. Rocky brings solid writing experience, both fiction and non-fiction, to our ranks. As an added bonus, I am given to understand that he is a big fan of Star Trek in general and Voyager in particular--to the extent that he's actually watched every single episode since its premiere! This ought to help us in the continuity department, folks--you know, for that small but vocal segment of fans who keep sending us those letters harping on minor events that occurred in the first few seasons. As if the majority of our target audience really cares. But I digress. I'm sure you'll all join me in welcoming Rocky and wishing him a successful and productive stay here. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Welcoming Memo   
References: 1, 2   
Date: November 2, 2000 

Sorry, but going strictly by names, I was under the impression that you were male. Not that it's a problem that you're a woman, understand. In fact, this may work out even better. Now the critics can't say that our writing staff is 'top-heavy with testosterone.' And talk about coincidences, I heard the new market survey being published next week states that fully 50% of the general population, from which our TV viewers are drawn, is female! Weird, huh? Anyway, looking forward to working with you. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Episode Outline   
References: 1   
Date: November 22, 2000 

Rocky, I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love the scenario you've come up with for the episode. It'll work really well in sweeps--lots of potential to draw those viewers in! Just a few tiny little comments: I think you're relying a little too heavily on people remembering that Chakotay is Native American (that's like expecting people to remember which one of Torres' parents is Klingon!). And I'm not too sure about this 'vision quest' thing--sounds an awful lot like drug tripping to me. We have a responsibility to send morally upright messages to today's youth, you know. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Revised Episode Outline   
References: 1, 2   
Date: December 5, 2000 

Thanks for the revisions you sent over yesterday. I've gone over them in-depth and I think we're much closer, concept-wise to what this episode is supposed to be. Just a few minor suggestions: Scene 3 on the Bridge--I think this would work much better if we replace Tuvok and Kim with the Doctor and Seven. Although we try to be fair to all of our actors, there's no denying that there's much greater viewer interest in the latter two characters. Besides, we've already done the 'Vulcan Tactical Officer' bit once this season. No sense in overdoing it, you know. I also don't think the scene in the captain's Ready Room is necessary. Of course she makes the decision--we just don't need to see her agonize over it and weigh the pros and cons first. I know you said it's not 'cut and dried', but that's assuming people remember that Janeway is responsible for upholding the Prime Directive (whatever that is supposed to mean.) I have been told on good authority that Kirk never worried about things like that. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Revised Episode Outline   
References: 1, 2, 3, 4   
Date: December 12, 2000 

Rocky, I don't understand why you insist the Doctor belongs in Sickbay and not on the Bridge during the battle scene. He's got those, what do you call them, Emergency Command Codes or such. He's probably even more qualified to be there than Janeway (hmm…that gives me an idea for something later on in the season). It's foolish to have him just sit in Sickbay and twiddle his thumbs when he could be on the Bridge. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Explaining my reasoning (was Re: Revised Episode Outline)   
References: 1, 2,   
Date: December 19, 2000 

Casualties? From the battle? No, probably not. We don't have any Redshirts in the budget this week. And as of now, we don't have the shields going down so I don't think we'll have any medical emergencies. Besides, if there are any, there's always Paris. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Explaining my reasoning   
References: 1, 2, 3, 4,   
Date: December 23, 2000 

No, I didn't forget that Paris is also supposed to be the pilot and it makes more sense to have him on the Bridge. OK, fine, you win, we'll keep Tuvok in the scene, and send the Doctor back to Sickbay. That was a good observation, by the way, that if there's nothing else going on he could always deliver Torres' baby. However, Biller's sending out a memo this afternoon announcing the decision to have Torres give birth in the episode that airs two weeks later. It's a great premise--she and Seven crash-land a shuttle on a primitive planet and end up stranded there while Voyager fights another epic space battle in a nearby nebula. Seven is forced to deliver the baby when Torres goes into labor, and of course there will be complications. I think the plan now is to have Seven donate some nanoprobes to the baby in order to stabilize her life signs. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Explaining my reasoning   
References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6   
Date: January 4, 2001 

Glad you like the nanoprobes idea--yeah, those little buggers really *_do_* get around! And I guess you're right about Kim needing to be on the bridge in that earlier scene. But what do you think about giving Janeway's lines to Seven? 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Too much Seven (was: Explaining my reasoning)   
References: 1   
Date: January 10, 2001 

No, there isn't a minimum number of scenes that Seven needs to be in, for crying out loud! Honestly, do you think Jeri enjoys having to carry the whole weight of the show on her shoulders? I know you're not into the ratings stuff, but the folks in Marketing assure me that the 18-24 year old males are demographic gold. And they want to see Seven. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Too much Seven   
References: 1, 2, 3, 4   
Date: January 14, 2001 

Catchy slogans--"7-24" and "All Seven, All the Time." If you ever get tired of writing, Rocky, I'm sure the suits will find a place for you on the business side of things. But we're not done with you yet--your latest idea of simply cloning Seven and having her replace all of the regular cast is absolutely brilliant! Really puts meaning in the phrase "Seven of Nine!" 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Seven Overkill (Was: Re: Too much Seven)   
References: 1   
Date: January 22, 2001 

Oh, you were kidding about the Seven clones? I still think it'd make a great idea. Although there may have been some grumbling from some of the other actors and their agents. We're still dealing with the fallout from Beltran's temper tantrum last year. Well, he should be happy now, at least, being that he's getting more screen time lately. If I do say so myself, it was a brilliant idea to set him up with Seven. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: J/C vs. C/7 (Was: Re: Seven Overkill)   
References: 1   
Date: February 1, 2001 

I'm *_sure_* you're kidding now, Rocky, about a romance between Chakotay and Janeway, right? She's the captain of the ship--she's not allowed, remember? Sacrificing everything for her crew…Besides, it surely hasn't escaped your notice that Janeway is kind of old for that sort of thing. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: J/C vs. C/7   
References: 1, 2, 3, 4   
Date: February 6, 2001 

No, Kirk is not a good argument to the contrary about captains and romance. He's a guy, first of all. You've got to be very careful how you portray women--if we imply that Janeway would hop into bed with one of her subordinates, well, that just wouldn't be good and negates the image of her we're trying to portray. I thought one of the reasons you wanted to join the staff was to 'look out for Janeway's character' after all. 

I also don't understand why you insist that Janeway would feel betrayed by Chakotay and Seven getting together. You keep on assuming viewer memories are better than they are--trust me on this, absolutely no one but a few rabid fans actually remember an old episode from the second season. And what's this 'angry warrior' you keep mentioning? 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Voyager Ending   
References: 1   
Date: February 11, 2001 

A whole getting home arc? You're talking about what, 9 or 10 episodes? No can do. That's too much of the season. We have a whole bunch of ongoing threads we need to work on, like hologram rights and Seven's continuing quest for humanity…I just don't see how we can devote more than the last episode to what you want without skimping on the really important stuff. Remember, this is not just my personal opinion--the people in Marketing back me up. With all the problems the networks are having, losing audience share to cable, we've got to keep our core viewers happy. 

Additionally, some of these ideas you have---I don't think anyone really cares about family reunions. Seven doesn't have any family waiting for her anyway, unless we can conjure up an aunt or something. Paris can write his father another letter, and Torres doesn't even like either of her parents. I don't know where you got the idea that Janeway has family either, for that matter. I remember she had a fiancé or something once, but didn't we get rid of him during the fourth season? Bringing up the Maquis issue is beating a dead horse; been there, done that. Biller did a show earlier this season about a Maquis rebellion to take over the ship. 

And as far as trials are concerned, courtroom 'drama' just can't compare to a good space battle. People want to see action, not a bunch of talking heads. And since you're so protective of Janeway, I am amazed you'd even think of having her undergo a court-martial for some of the decisions she's made out in the Delta Quadrant. No, none of your reasons for an arc are compelling enough, I'm afraid. We'll stick it all in the final show--it's 2 hours long and should be enough for the kind of stuff you want. If we decide to get them home at all, that is. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Voyager Finale (was: Voyager Ending)   
References: 1, 2   
Date: February 15, 2001 

Reset button? What reset button? I think you're the one missing the point here, Rocky. Voyager is about a voyage (get it?), an epic voyage through the Delta Quadrant. One of the intellectuals once compared it to some Greek story whose title I forget. I don't think the viewers would 'feel cheated', as you put it, if we don't bring them home. And your other idea, about having them found a colony on some planet is really lame. It's about a ship, see? I think you're the one who needs to watch some of the early season shows again. Besides, if we leave them out in the Delta Quadrant at the end of the series, we have the potential for making some movies (that is, if Patrick and Brent ever get tired of doing TNG.) We certainly don't want to paint ourselves into a corner, like the guys over at DS9 did. 

* * *

To: Rocky T.   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: Re: Voyager Finale, Revised   
References: 1   
Date: February 28, 2001 

I've got to admit, when I first read your proposal for the series finale, I didn't like it. The idea of killing off the most beloved character on the show…but then when I read farther, how Seven nobly sacrifices herself, choosing to be reassimilated by the Borg to save the ship, something just clicked. I've been trying to figure out how we could get the Borg back in before the show ends (just between you and me I think we may have gone a little off track in "Unimatrix Zero" with a Borg civil war and all) and this is just perfect. I especially like your statement that, "Every woman viewer is going to stand up and cheer when Seven dies", giving up her life for the crew and captain she loves. Brings a tear to my eye, even now. 

* * *

To: General Writing Staff   
From: Brannon Braga   
Subject: A Fond Farewell   
Date: March 15, 2001 

I regret to announce that Rocky T. is going to be leaving the writing staff, citing other commitments and writing projects. She informs me that she has benefited greatly from her time with us, that it was 'a real eye-opening experience to see how professionals such as yourselves run a show like Star Trek, which has endured for over three decades and remains beloved by millions of fans.' Rocky's contributions have been greatly appreciated and we're sorry to see her go. But you can't argue with people when they get the feeling it's time to move on. She herself stated, 'my work here is done' so I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her success in all her future endeavors. 

And, Rocky, there's a place for you on the staff for Series V, if you're ever interested.   
_FINIS_   


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